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User blog:CMAN122/Complete Manual of Style Page
Few weeks ago, I've noticed a fair abundance of pages that haven't been updated for a long time. Most of these articles are more than four years old and really look laughable when compared to our newer stuff. Another thing that hasn't been updated but should have been is our Manual of Style, which has been incomplete ever since its publication during May 2012. We've always pointed our newcomers to it but I don't think that it has ever been enough for someone to truly understand what is right or wrong on the site. The following is what I'll be publishing as our future Manual of Style. Most of the ideas came from Wikipedia which might take itself a bit too seriously sometimes but does have very detailed guidelines. I've tried to make it as short as possible so that even the world's most bored editor will at least read 25% of the page. If there is something that is missing or not agreeable with you, please let me know. Please wait until it has been published, if you simply want to correct a few things or rewrite some sections. =Manual of Style= The Manual of Style (MoS) lists a series of editing guidelines that must be followed by every editor. Only in this way is it possible for us to enforce high article standards. All articles that significantly fail to meet MoS standards must be marked by the template. If you want to discuss certain topics of this page or feel like something should be added, use the talk page. General 'Language' *'Point of View': All articles must be written in third person. This does not apply to quotations. *'Spelling': All articles must contain British spelling. This does not apply to game terms that are not featured with British spelling in any release. **Example: Customize mode in Need for Speed: Underground 2 *'Other Languages': Every language other than English should not be used unless they are game terms. *'Tense': All game events should be treated as current events, as all Need for Speed titles should be treated equally. As such, make sure to avoid past tense, even when describing older game titles. Past tense may only be used for preceeding events. 'Formatting' *'Capitalisation': Use capital letters for title cases and trademark names. If a trademark (e.g. quattro) uses lower cases, it should also be used. All caps should be avoided. *'Italics': Italics should be used for game titles as they are art publications. *'Boldface': Only use boldface on headings of level 3 or below, table headers and captions. You may also use boldface for the first occurrence of the title in an article and to highlight text in lists. *'Linking': Each article of the Need for Speed Wiki must be linked to all other relevant articles. **Do not link a subject multiple times within a shorter article section. In a later section, you may link the subject again so that readers do not need to scroll the page up. **Linking should also be done for articles that haven't been created yet. **Piped links should be used for links with long names that do not need the entire name to be mentioned (e.g. Drift Train instead of Need for Speed (2015)/Drift Train). Avoid entirely rewriting a link name to not mess with the search engine, unless a corresponding redirect page exists. *'Abbreviations': As our articles are not limited by space as in paper books, there's generally no reason for us to use abbreviations unless one the following criteria is met: **Unit symbols (e.g. SI units) **Names that are commonly referred to as such (e.g. BMW) **Abbreviations that would improve article presentation (e.g. table headers) **Miscellaneous shortenings (e.g. etc.) *'Talk Pages': Every edit on a talk page must be signed with a signature stamp as shown here: ~~~~ Articles 'Titles' *Always use a game title prefix for overview articles and all respective subpages. It should always look like this: Need for Speed (2015)/Events. Further subpages from subpages should not use two prefixes as the article name would get too big. In this case, only use the game title prefix again. **It is not necessary to add prefixes to car, character and event articles. If an event name is shared by two titles, add the prefix after title in brackets 'Content' *'Relevance': Every edit and media must be relevant to the Need for Speed series. *'Barred content': **Opinions **Advertisements and speculations **Information about third-party hacks and game modifications **Article duplicates **Polls *'Trivia': Trivial information must be written or put under a "Trivia" headline. *'User Tests': Experimentations and testings should not be performed in articles, but in Sandbox pages. 'Referencing' *Every bit of information added to the wiki must be verifiable, as such thing is expected from any encyclopedia. The following must always be followed by a reference: **Development differences including pre-release content **Information that usually cannot be observed during normal gameplay **Comparisons with real life subjects **Quotes from characters, in-game menues, etc *Questionable, real world based or rumoured content must have a creditable referenced proceeding it **Such content that doesn't have an adequate reference will be removed *'Allowed' references **Publisher website, twitter or facebook feed **Developer website, twitter or facebook feed **Manufacturer website, twitter or facebook feed **Sponsor website, twitter or facebook feed **Credable vehicle encyclopedia websites **Prima Official Strategy Guides **Game Industry news sites such as Kotaku, Joystiq or Gamasutra **Development Staff forum posts **Clear and high quality youtube videos **Images expressing aspect or point of reference *'Barred' references **Forum posts by non-development team members **Images highlighting mod, bug, exploit or 'Hack' usage **External website without a credible information source *References can be added by placing websiteofreference.co.uk next to the statement and at the base of the article. Media 'Naming' *All uploaded content must have an effective name to allow for easier searching and to keep related content together. **A example of this is "File:NFSWPrime_MitsuEclipseGT.jpg" as it highlights the game, bodykit and vehicle that the image relates to. *Users that upload a personal image for either their signature templates, blog or user page must include their username in the image filename. **A example of this is "File:LeMansRacer_MercMcLarenSLR722001.jpg" as it highlights the username, describes the content shown in the image and highlights that it should not be used in an article. 'Audio' *'Allowed Content': The following is a list of everything that may be uploaded in audio format: **In-game vehicle sounds **In-game narrations and character speech **All user page-intended files *'Quality': All audio files must be in good quality (proper volume, no contortions) and reasonable length. You may only upload in ogg format. 'Images' *'Relevance': Article images should not be purely decorative and must be relevant to the article, as well as highlight the subject. *'Disallowed Images': The following images are not allowed as well as those highlighted by Wikipedia's Image Policy; **Images taken with a camera **Images with a watermark **Images of degraded quality (too dark, too small, blurry, hidden, etc.) **Images taken at poor graphic settings (PC titles) **Images with the intent of advertising (Fan sites, modification sites, social network sites or "clan" sites. **Note: Images depicting pre-release content from upcoming titles are exempt from this rule, as they are used as references. *'Recommended Quality': All images on the Need for Speed Wiki should meet the following quality standards whenever possible: **Images relating to games released during or after 2006 must be in a widescreen format (16:9). **Releases before 2007 may be either in a widescreen (16:9) or standard (4:3) format. **Handheld device releases are exempt but must match device resolution. **All images must be at least 1280x720 (0.9 Mpx) resolution but not above 1920x1080 (20.7 Mpx). ***Icons must be of a square resolution - 32x32, 64x64, etc. **All images must be of a square pixel aspect ratio. **Larger images must be in a .jpeg format. **Icon images must be in a .png format with a transparent background (alpha channel). **Images that have been uploaded but not have not been placed into an article or user page will be deleted, unless they are linked. Music I might not have a song for you but I do have this sweet R34 for you to enjoy. Category:Blog posts Category:Community News